Unit 9
No article is used:
1
When re ferring to a noun in general (this is com m on in academic w ritin g ). Usually the noun is
in the p lu ra l:
Jobs are essential if vou w ant to make money.
Economics is an essential part of politics.
2
W ith uncountable nouns, when the noun is not a specific group:
Jobs are essential if vou w ant to make monev.
3
With m ost proper nouns (names):
She w orks fo r Gooqle.
I have another bank account in Switzerland.
Note: These rules cover m ost article usage,
but as so often in gram m ar, there are exceptions.
Practice exercises
Com plete the spaces w ith
the, a, an o r no a rtic le (-) and w rite the ru le num bers.
1
Economic advisors t o ______government warned against not regulating larger businesses.
R u le :______
2
I believe that there should b e ______system to manage economic instability.
R ule :______
3 ______inflation is a constant w orry f o r ______ em ployers.
R u le :______
R u le :______
U
_____ Toyota has one o f _______highest revenues fo r any company in Japan.
R u le :______
R ule :______
5
Every company ne ed s______good staff.
R u le :______
6
My fa th e r i s ______em ploym ent lawyer.
R ule :______
7 ______w orld economy, although presently unstable, w ill soon recover.
R u le :______
! G ra m m a r tip :
Proper nouns or names, can som etim es take articles. The best way to
\ decide is to th in k of w hether the proper noun is a part of a group. If it is, then it may
| take
the, e.g.
the UN (a group of nations),
the United States (a group of states),
the
\ Seychelles (a group of islands).
2
C om plete the spaces in the te xt below w ith
the, a, an o r no a rtic le (-).
(1 )___ third of a ll employees in (2 )____ UK see 'taking a s ickie ’
as an acceptable part of
(3 )___ w ork, nothing more than lig h t-h e a rte d fle x ib ility w ith w orking hours, yet taking
days off when not actually sick is costing (4 )____economy (5 )____ billions of pounds
(6 )___ year in (7 )____ UK alone. As such, (8 )____ reasons fo r these
days off of w ork need
to be addressed to counteract (9 )____'sick c u ltu re ’ em bracing society.
The reasons fo r these sick’ days are quite complex. One of (10)___ main reasons fo r this
kind of absence is 'w o rk fa tig u e ’, (11)____fact that (12)____ people are bored w ith th e ir
jobs. As
one leading professor states, 'jobs have become more fragm ented and as such,
